Justin Boudeman

In memory of our beloved son, father, brother, uncle, husband and loyal friend, we are devastated to announce that Justin M. Boudeman went to be with the Lord on August 30, 2025 following a courageous battle with cancer. He was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 29, 1973 to Susan (Williams) Boudeman and Robert "Buck" Boudeman (deceased). He was a most awaited first child!

Justin is survived by his mother Susan (Hickory Corners, Michigan), son Jonathan Boudeman (Cambridge, England), daughter Sophia Boudeman, step-daughter Noemi Montenegro and wife Lorena Boudeman (all of Boquete, Panama), his sister Hilary (Boudeman) Ulbrich, brother-in-law Michael Ulbrich and their four children (Lake Leelanau, Michigan), and many cousins, aunts, uncles and wonderful friends from around the world.

Justin was an entrepreneur. His first idea at four years old was to make a "real solid stool" which he sold along Baseline Road. He loved nature! He thoroughly enjoyed his little garden from age three on, which cemented his curiosity and interest in God. At about seven years old, he asked the school bus driver if he could walk through his great-grandfather's 250-acre property to return home, which he did until he was old enough to drive himself.

He was adventurous. At 13 he talked 4 or 5 of his friends into joining him in "living off the land" on his grandmother's farm on Little Long Lake. They caught frogs, cooked frog legs over a fire, foraged wild strawberries, made their own fishing poles and caught fish along the shoreline, etc. while learning to be "brave" in their tents at night.

He became good at sailing, skiing (especially out west - once jumping out of a helicopter), skateboarding, swimming, wakeboarding and playing the guitar. His passion and lifelong joy was surfing in the ocean. Justin graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins with a degree in Natural Resource Management. He loved to travel and became interested in the opportunities and the people of Panama, following a semester studying abroad in the Dominican Republic and an internship in Costa Rica, where he studied under a shaman who taught him survival techniques in the tropics. He soon blossomed and decided to try out his entrepreneurial skills: first running tours in a dug-out canoe to a very remote reef in Bocas del Toro that ended with a lobster dinner fixed by an older local man on the end of a dock. He built a thatch-roof home on an uninhabited island in Bocas, later moving to Boquete where he built another home for his growing family, bringing electricity to a distant mountainside location with fantastic views. His most challenging project was building a beautiful solar powered, off-grid home on yet another remote location, Isla Paridas.

Eventually, he built Hacienda Fennario, his home on a small coffee farm, and began what grew into an international business, Longboard Specialty Coffee. He then bought two farms in the cloud forests of Boquete, where he built an off-grid cabin, a lifelong dream, and practiced bio-dynamic farming to become one of the top producers of the rare Geisha Coffee and one of the first Panamanian producers of 100% organically produced coffee. His Longboard Specialty Coffee has been much sought after worldwide, which also afforded world travel and many international friends who came to Boquete to learn from him.

At his 50th birthday party, there were friends attending from nine different countries. That night, he raised a glass and thanked God for his good life and good fortune. He will be greatly missed by all who loved him and were touched by his amazing life. Please join us on Saturday, October, 18th at 3pm to celebrate Justin at the Smith Family Farm (874 East Hobbs Road, Delton, Michigan 49046).

Rest in peace, my son. "That whosoever believeth in Him should not parish, but have eternal life." John 3:15.

If you would like to make a donation, please do so to Oceana - Protecting the World's Oceans at http://oceana.org